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Title: Genetic and antigenic relationships of veicular stomatitis viruses from South America

Author
item Pauszek, Steven
item BARRERA, JOSE DEL - Us Deparment Of Homeland Security
item GOLDBERG, TONY - University Of Wisconsin
item ALLENDE, ROSSANA - Pan American Health Organization
item Rodriguez, Luis

Submitted to: Archives of Virology
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 7/21/2011
Publication Date: 8/10/2011
Citation: Pauszek, S.J., Barrera, J.C., Goldberg, T., Allende, R., Rodriguez, L.L. 2011. Genetic and antigenic relationships of veicular stomatitis viruses from South America. Archives of Virology. 156(11):1961-1968.

Interpretive Summary: Vesicular stomatitis (VS) is a viral disease of cattle, horses and pigs that, in pigs and cattle, is clinically similar to foot and mouth disease, a devastating disease of livestock. The disease is caused by a group of viruses that have been serologically classified into two serotypes: New Jersey (VSNJV) and Indiana (VSIV). These viruses are endemic in northern South America (Peru, Colombia, Ecuador, Venezuela), Central America and southern Mexico and cause sporadic outbreaks in Bolivia, northern Mexico and southwestern United States. In the rest of South America, VS has only been reported in Brazil and occasionally in Argentina, and the disease is caused by viruses related to VS Indiana that have been serologically classified as either Indiana-2 or Indiana-3, however little is known about the epidemiology and genetic relationships among these viruses. Here we characterized 10 viral strains recovered from outbreaks in Brazil and Argentina between 1963 and 1998 and showed that the viruses causing clinical VS in livestock in Brazil and Argentina are classified into two distinct groups: Indiana-2 (VSIV-2) and Indiana-3 (VSIV-3). Our results will help in understanding the virus distribution and classification of VSV in the Americas.

Technical Abstract: Vesicular stomatitis (VS) viruses have beenclassified into two serotypes: New Jersey (VSNJV) and Indiana (VSIV). Here, we have characterized field isolates causing vesicular stomatitis in Brazil and Argentina over a 35-year span. Cluster analysis based on either serological relatedness, as inferred from virus neutralization and complement fixation assays, or nucleotide sequences of two separate genes (phosphoprotein or glycoprotein) grouped the field isolates into two distinct monophyletic groups within the Indiana serogroup. One group included seven viruses from Brazil and Argentina that were serologically classified as Indiana-2 and Cocal virus (COCV). The other group contained three viruses from Brazil that were serologically classified as Indiana-3 and the prototype of this group, Alagoas virus (VSAV). Interestingly, two vesiculoviruses that were isolated from insects but do not cause disease in animals, one from Brazil (Maraba virus; MARAV) and the other from Colombia (CoAr 171638), grouped into two separate genetic lineages within the Indiana serotype. Our data provide support for the classification of viruses causing clinical VS in livestock in Brazil and Argentina into two distinct groups: Indiana-2 (VSIV-2) and Indiana-3 (VSIV-3). We suggest using nomenclature for these viruses that includes the serotype, year and place of occurrence, and affected host. This nomenclature is consistent with that currently utilized to describe field isolates of VSNJV or VSIV in scientific literature.